Gleiss Lutz has advised Behr GmbH & Co. KG on the acquisition by the Mahle Group of a stake in Behr. The two automotive suppliers have agreed that Mahle will take over shares in Behr in several stages: Mahle will initially acquire a 19.9 percent stake in Behr in 2010, which will by increased to 36.85 percent in early 2011.
The contract also provides that Mahle can purchase additional shares from the current shareholders by exercising call options starting in 2013, allowing it to take over the majority of shares in Behr. It also provides current Behr shareholders with the opportunity to then sell their shares to Mahle in several stages over a period of ten years.
The deal is still subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.
The following Gleiss Lutz team advised Behr on the deal: Dr. Andreas Wölfle (lead, partner), Dr. Felix Born, Dr. Martin Lembke, Daniel Lieber (all Stuttgart), Dr. Thomas Richter, Marco Niehaus (both Frankfurt, all corporate/M&A), Dr. Stefanie Beinert (partner, Stuttgart), Stefan Köhler (Frankfurt, both tax), Dr. Christiane Freytag, Dr. Roland Hartmannsberger (both Stuttgart, environmental), Dr. Helge Kortz (partner), Dr. Kai Arne Birke (both finance, Frankfurt), Dr. Ulrich Denzel (partner), Dr. Jennifer Hattaß (both Stuttgart, antitrust), Dr. Herwig Lux (IP, Stuttgart), Dr. Christian Arnold (Stuttgart, employment), Dr. Andreas Spahlinger (partner, restructuring, Stuttgart).
Dr. Andreas Zweig (head of M&A) and Gerd Class (head of legal) acted as in-house counsel for Behr.
Gleiss Lutz already advised Behr in February 2010 on the sale of 60 percent of its shares in Behr Industry GmbH & Co. KG to Mahle as well as the establishment of a joint venture between the two manufacturers.
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